NPR 2010-10-30

President Obama is expected to speak shortly about suspicious packages out of Yemen that have prompted international security alerts. The packages were found at an airport north of London and a cargo¹ side in Dubai. Sweeps were conducted at airports in Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey² earlier today. So far, nothing dangerous has turned up. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston says now the FBI's considering at least two main lines of thought behind today's security alerts.

"Was it supposed to be a dry run for another bombing that's one of the series? Another possibility is that this is never supposed to be a bombing at all, but in fact was supposed to be a distraction³ or at least beget⁴ everyone spooled⁵ up. And it's a low cost way of spinning people up and thinking that there is a terrorist threat."

NPR's Dina Temple-Raston. In a short time ago, a United Arab Emirates flight carrying cargo from Yemen landed in New York. It's escorted by fighter jets. It was greeted by law enforcement officials. But the FBI says there was no known threat on that flight.

Authorities in Washington D.C. are tightening⁶ security for Sunday's Marine⁷ Corps⁸ marathon because a shooter is targeting military buildings around the region. No one has been hurt, however, NPR's Joel Schneider reports authorities fear the threat could escalate⁹.

The later shooting, the second at a museum devoted¹⁰ to the Marines, happened sometime last night. And authorities are working under the assumption that it is related to three others. Those shootings are previous one at the same museum, another at a Marine Corps recruiting station in a different Virginia suburb, and one of the Pentagon itself have already been linked. The FBI's John Perrin says the gunman might have a grievance¹¹ against the Marine Corps.

"We like to know what this grievance is and what we can do to try help resolve it. We are willing to listen to him and hear his side of story.
The FBI is urging the gunman to surrender. Joel Schneider, NPR News, Washington."

The U.S. economy is growing and expected at an annual rate of 2% July to September. Financial analyst¹² Roy Blumberg says while the job market remains¹³ weak, at least the hemorrhaging has stopped.

One thing has changed during the last couple of quarters that didn't before I think is that those who are employed have a less fear that they are gonna lose their job.

But today's data out of the Commerce Department is drawing lukewarm reaction from economists¹⁴ in general who say didn't have much of impact on the high unemployment in the U.S.

French Unions are ending their strikes at oil refineries¹⁵ and major ports as well as refineries have reopened. Unions voted to call off the demonstrations¹⁶ after they were unable to get parliament to vote against the pension reform bill that raises the retirement¹⁷ age in France from 60 to 62.

At last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average up four points at 11,180, NASDQ up slightly at 2,507. This is NPR.

The parents of a kidnapped British aid worker killed in a US rescue attempt in Afghanistan earlier this month have called her death a tragic¹⁸ mistake. As Larry Miller¹⁹ reports from London they concede there is no way know whether it was better to try a rescue or negotiate with what they describe as extremely dangerous and militant²⁰ criminals.

John and Lorna Norgrove say once their daughter Linda was kidnapped they realized anything could happened. They say they have no animosity towards the US for her death thought have been caused by a grenade thrown by American forces during the rescue attempt.

"First of all, we don't know what we have would have been if no rescue attempt to have been ... it. They would appear to us that the rescue attempt was so close to being a total success and that the undoing²¹ is or appears to have been a human error."

"Yes. We very much feel we don't want to get into the blame game."

Norgrove's parents say the US deserves credit for admitting to the mistake when it could have easily covered it up. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

NATO's reporting the deaths of 20 Afghan insurgents²² in southern Afghanistan today. The military alliance said one of its helicopters had come under fire. Forces on the ground have recovered 20 bombs, fire arms in several vehicles during fighting in Kandahar province.

A Virginia man charged with planning to attack the subway system in the Washington D.C. area has appeared in court. Farooque Ahmed's lawyer says his client will not challenge his detention²³. Farooque Ahmed was arrested Wednesday after allegedly attempting to join up with al-Qaida terrorists.
 

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

4 beget   

v.引起；产生

参考例句：

• Dragons beget dragons,phoenixes beget phoenixes.龙生龙，凤生凤。
• Economic tensions beget political ones.经济紧张导致政治紧张。

5 spooled   

adj.假脱机的v.把…绕到线轴上（或从线轴上绕下来）( spool的过去式和过去分词 )；假脱机（输出或输入）

参考例句：

• The film is spooled for use. 胶卷己装好待用。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The tin wire was spooled after it was used. 焊丝用完后已卷绕起来了。 来自互联网

6 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

10 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

11 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

16 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

17 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

18 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

19 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

20 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

21 undoing   

n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭

参考例句：

• That one mistake was his undoing. 他一失足即成千古恨。
• This hard attitude may have led to his undoing. 可能就是这种强硬的态度导致了他的垮台。

22 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

23 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。